January 16, 2011

I've Missed you!

Dear blog readers... Oh, how I have missed our time together!

I am so pumped to be on the mend... I can't wait to make 2011 a great year! I need to make up for lost time... so I am going to jump right in to my first post of the New Year (I know, better late than never)! However, I can tell you there will be many a ton of more posts to follow! I promise! I have way tooo many things to share with you already!

Here we go...Each year some of my friends pick a word (two or three) to set the tone or be a guide for them to focus on throughout the year. I have never done this, but know it would be good for me to do this year.

Sometime ago, I had talked about this with Karen, from Farmhouse Woolens and we tossed a couple words back and forth. I don't don't if either one of us could narrow our "word" or "words" down at that point. I think we were still overwhelmed with how our year went in general. The year itself was neither bad nor good for me, it was just trying. I know I struggled with finding a balance in this crazy creative world of mine between work and family... not to mention being a people pleaser and trying to make everyone happy along the way. However, after MUCH thought... I have decided on 2 words for me this year. One word will be for me "personally" and the other word will be for me "professionally".

My first word is "ACCEPTANCE". That is my "personal" word just forME to reflect on each day as I move forward in 2011.

To me, before I am a talented designer, I am first and for most, an amazing mother of two beautiful girls, a loving wife to the sweetest guy ever and a damn good friend to many! For the most part, I am blessed with an amazing life (of course, with flaws!!) and I always seem to worry & struggle with "ACCEPTANCE". In a nut shell, this quote below from Stacey Charter sums up it for me.... (Maybe it is a "Stacy" thing!!!)

“There comes a time when you have to stand up and shout:

This is me damn it!

I look the way I look, think the way I think, feel the way I feel, love the way I love!

I am a whole complex package. Take me... or leave me.

Accept me - or walk away!

Do not try to make me feel like less of a person, just because I don't fit your idea of who I should be and don't try to change me to fit your mold.

If I need to change, I alone will make that decision.

When you are strong enough to love yourself 100%, good and bad - you will be amazed at the opportunities that life presents you.”

The second word for my professional life is "CHANGE". This is a BIG word for me! I think the first step toward change is awareness (I am pretty confident last year brought awareness that "CHANGE" is needed)! The second step to "CHANGE" could be my word "ACCEPTANCE" above. My BEST friend Paula has this quote everywhere and mentions this to me time and time again... "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." -Reindhold Niebuhr

I love that quote and have these two in view each day as well....

If you don't like something, change it.

If you can't change it, change your attitude.

Maya Angelou

"Life is change.

Growth is optional.

Choose Wisely!"

I hope this year is off to a great start for each of you! If any of you have "choose" a word or "words" for the year... I would love to hear about it in the comment section of this post! I am excited to see how these two words play out in my personal and professional life this year! Let's make it a great year friends!

Glad you are back! I have thought about it and I "think" my word should be: COMPLETEMy goal this year is to "complete" several of my WISP list. I believe I have adult ADD and so I also need to learn to "complete" other day to day tasks before moving on to something else and not be so scattered. We shall see if I can "complete" this new year with completed projects and life! HUGS... and stitches

Acceptance struck a chord with me because I preach about it all the time. I constantly say "if you want me to accept you and all your quirks then you must accept me and mine". Why do we want to be accepted but don't accept in return?

Change is good and yet so often we're afraid of change.

My word for 2011 is "heart" - if my heart's not happy then I'm not doing it. I think I inspired Karen to use the same word - my blog post struck a chord with her. :-)

I like your word thing; and I think my word for 2011 is COURAGE. I am living with an incurable form of leukemia and need courage to get through the tough days. Also, hubby is out of work for health reasons and looks like it is going to be a very long road; so need the courage to keep my head high and attitude positive during these tough times. Money is not in abundance now, so have to sacrifice alot in this time in my life when I want to make all the memories I can living life.Quilting will be a great asset to me at this time. Will have to put my stash to good use! Certainly have alot of material to complete some wonderful projects...a couple of nice kits also.

I am glad to see you feeling better and posting again.I am finally healing myself, so able to do more and it feels good to create again. My word for the year is Create, no deadlines, no swaps or commitments, just to take the time to create and see where it leads me.

Hi Stacy, glad to see you back. I like your word for the year. I would like to accomplish more this year, but realize I had better be careful because I will be stressing if I don't get things done like I want and then I end up more behind. I see where you got to visit the Gathering. You lucky girl! Lisa has been in Nebraska this weekend lecturing at the Cottonwood Quilt Guild. I got to see her truck show and loved everything. Will you be having some new designs for spring this year? I really enjoy your patterns, you had such great designs this past fall. Take care,Karen M

I thought about this last year and I chose the word "adapt". Change sounds so much more proactive! However, much of my time during the day is spent at a job where I'm presented with new visions or directives and I really have to kind of figure out how to get the teams I work with going in that direction, so that's why I picked my word. Best wishes for the new year!

What a wonderful post. I am later than most in reading it, but I am truly touched by it. What a good idea. I will print the ACCEPTANCE portion to remind myself of the same thing. Thank you for sharing a very personal and yet enlightening post!!!